Dumbing it down

[mark12_30]

Skimming, but this popped out:

Originally Posted by davem

So, the absence of mercy, & of any sense of tragedy in the death of the 'enemies' - perhaps that is what really bothers me about the movies. I don't know if that constitutes a 'dumbing down' or a 'hardening up' of Tolkien's tale but either way it feels 'wrong'...

I would extend that to a diminishing, absence, or dumbing down of all the virtues; which is an indictment of society as a whole. PJ & co are simply members of virtue-free culture.

That virtue-less culture is not particularly modern. Disinterest in virtue has preceded the downfall of many great cultures.